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Vulgar Opinions: Socks And Visors (NSFW)

Because Erik Karlsson got his leg stepped on, and Manny Malhotra got hit in the face with a puck a while ago, several prominent hockey media types are going on about visors and socks based on two, TWO incidents. How many others like them can we recall? Pominville’s slice a few years back, Zednik and Malarchuk obviously (throat guards, but same concept), maybe Laperriere’s shot to the face a few seasons ago… Am I forgetting any? Probably, but most fans would be hard pressed to come up with more. Adding fuel to the fire is the fact that neither visors nor socks (or any other type of skate resistant padding) are 100% effective in preventing these types of injuries.

But that gets away from my point. Why are all these important people so worked up over incidents that practically never happen when there is one that happens ALL THE FUCKING TIME staring them in the face, and has been for a years. I’m talking about concussions. You know those things (often) caused by dirty hits that cause the same media types to hem and haw about intent and whether the guy turned or was in a vulnerable position, or “how egregious was it really?”

How do you justify going from IT’S DUMB THAT WE DON’T HAVE MANDATORY KEVLAR SOCKS AND/OR VISORS!

to

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DON’T TAKE HITTING OUT OF THE GAME WITH A SPECIFIC HEADSHOT RULE THAT IS TOO DIFFICULT FOR THE BEST ATHLETES IN THE WORLD TO FOLLOW WITHOUT ACCIDENTALLY BRAINING SOMEONE AND GETTING UNFAIRLY PUNISHED!

How does a writer for the Globe and Mail, or Puck Daddy, or the National Post, or any other media outlet do that? These aren’t idiots like me, these are professionals that do this for a living.

How do we allow the NHL headshot rule to be so ill-defined that it allows the incompetent man in charge of player safety to essentially pardon offenders as he sees fit?

How do we allow something as dangerous as boarding to be a minor penalty that doesn’t immediately warrant a suspension?

And it’s not like visors or skate resistant pads are bad ideas that don’t merit serious consideration. I’m not saying that at all. But addressing such issues in the manner that the media and the NHL have is like putting air in your tires to make your car run better when the the engine sounds like a maraca filled with bricks. Let’s at least devote an appropriate level of outrage and desire to fix an issue that is significantly more common and more damaging. That’s all I’m asking.

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